This is a guest post from Murray’s new video project The Future of Engagement showing the impact of Audi including a hashtag for their new commercial about LED headlights being as “close to daylight” as you can get.

In the video, Murray says he chose Audi because they were very creative last year and they were the first advertiser to include a hashtag in their ads.

This past weekend was the Super Bowl, which can be as much an advertising event as a football game. Audi’s commercial shows an Audi pulling up to a vampire party at a bonfire and accidentally vaporizing the terrified vampires.

They pushed the messaging on Twitter through the #solongvampires tag. Here’s a look at what kind of a bite the video campaign took out of social media’s neck:

Highlights:

Audi used #SoLongVampires hashtag to extend the campaign to Twitter, and pushed traffic to the USA Today Admeter where it became the #8 most popular Super Bowl ad.

Topsy shows the #solongvampires hashtag as been tweeted 3,581 times to date.

4x increase in mentions during the week leading up to the Super Bowl.

The commercial got more than 4.8 million views on YouTube by the Monday morning after the Super Bowl. Watch it here. As of Wed Feb 7 at 4:00 CST the Audi Vampire commercial has had 6.4 million views.

Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist she mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers.
After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends. Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.

Very true, social media promotion is a must do strategy today. May it be a personal blog or any professional business, everything needs to be promoted on social media.
I like reading and blogging about business and marketing strategies.Naveena Taunk would love you to read ..Vampiring: Manipulating customers mind

Great stuff and awesome video:
Social media is the great power and its easy to promote your product.
This awesome video, this video reaches Approx 5 million viewers in Youtube.
and Audi is my favourite brand i love it.
Thanks for sharing…:)Ankit would love you to read ..2014 Audi A3 Sportback Smart Sedan Cars Unveiled at the Auto Expo

Linking commercials in traditional media such as TV to social media marketing is essential for a consistent brand message. This is clearly working very well and I don’t know why more companies are not doing that. A sign of things to come

Without a doubt hashtags are becoming an inventive way to get yourself noticed, but 3581 tweets from a huge company like Audi, during one of the busiest social periods of the US year… sounds a bit low, would Audi really be impressed by that figure? Millions watch the superbowl, but only a few thousand tweeted.

This year’s superbowl adds were pretty disappointing… so was the game! (even though the Giants one, go Giants! 😉
But i must admit that this use of twitter hashtag is pretty interesting! Businesses seem to desert Facebook for Twitter these days..!

I think this is something that is going to become much more prevalent in the future. Already I see people on Facebook using hashtags to express their dismay/joy about situations. I’ve even heard people use it while speaking to make a joke.

The use of Hashtags is the reason why this ad have got so many counts. But I think Audi always try to attract people by doing such extra ordinary things. I think like their cars, their ads are also unique and creative. This have helped them to maintain their top position in the automobile industry. Also this proves that one can make most by using Hashtags.

Yeah, it was online before the Superbowl but the number of online views exploded after it aired on TV. Some of this is attributable to word of mouth not aided by the hashtag but mentions of #solongvampires on social media exploded too so a lot of it was due to Twitter and other social media.

Its amazing because if you are a student of marketing, their are a few events throughout the year like the superbowl, daytona500, etc., that showcase the most clever and amazing commercials that not only make us laugh, but inspire us to make our own connections in what we are promoting.

I have never seen such a huge response for an ad on Youtube. I think the usage of Hashtag has greatly influenced counts for this ad. I think Twitter also should be given the credit for this success. The ad makers must have seen the use of Hashtags on social networking sites used for variety of events. I liked the ad, it is a unique ad and it clearly signifies the product of Audi.

hello!
thanks for this post. the fact that social media has find its wait to everything is quite amazing. i agree that audi is one of the best brands of the cars. i wouldnt mind at all having one 😉 the commercial is simply great and i liked it a lotEleonoraEOF would love you to read ..Hydroxycut Hardcore Pro Series Capsules Review by MuscleTech

Another spectacular car from Audi, truly they are one of the most reliable and gain influence in creating majestic vehicles. But what I like most is the employ of hashtag helps making it popular. Such a good approach!

its really interesting that he chose Audi because they were very creative last year and they were the first advertiser to include a hashtag in their ads, nothing mentioned about the quality or practical benefits

I don’t think there is no doubt that Audi being the most popular car brand. But the new ad of Audi about LED headlights created by using Hashtags is really superb! I think this is the main reason why this ad has got so large number of hits. I think usage of hashtags in ads should be increase to create more creative ads.

I’m curious how the hashtags made the ad more creative. If anything, I thought they didn’t affect the creative side of the ad very much but helped the ad spread on social media, like I said in the Future of Engagement episode.Murray Newlands would love you to read ..LeadsCon Las Vegas 2012

This entire hash-tag syndrome is one that I would like to trace to the Twitter-effect. The social network site uses hash-tags to highlight events that trend on it and perhaps the ad maker wanted to pay tribute to that. Audi is a popular brand and this hash-tag usage helps add to its appeal as a brand for the modern Twitter using generation of car drivers. The ad is really well thought out and well executed. Really loved it and found it different and yet very meaningful.

I am very impressed about the video it is awesome. it is my first time to see a commercial that reaches 4.8 million viewers in YouTube, this is a record. it is true that Audi is the most expensive brand of car ever been made. I am just wondering why don’t they use this car in horror movies.